Secrets and Deception
by silver-roses12
Summary: DG has a secret that she intends to keep from everyone. Will she be sucessful? Takes place slightly before and during the normal story line.
1. prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Tin Man" or any of the characters. This story is written for the sole purpose of my amusement and the entertainment of who ever reads this. **

**Prologue**

DG had a secret that she intended no one to discover. Soon she would be away from her mom and dad, as much as it pained her to leave them. She consoled herself whenever guilt and sorrow gnawed at her insides with the notion that it was all for the best. _She had to leave. It was better this way_. And so this became a mantra in her head. Little did she know that fate had other things in store.

**More will be posted once I figure out the details in the plot. I finished watching "Tin Man" yesterday and thought that it was fantastic. I don't see why everyone else complains about it so much. Anyways read and review! Constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames please. **


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Tin Man" or any of the characters. **

**Secrets and Deception: Chapter 1 **

DG sat on the swing in her yard rocking herself slowly back and forth. It was the middle of autumn and all the leaves from the tree were scattered across the ground. Normally this was the brunette's favourite time of year. She loved to see the leaves turn their beautiful colour and feel the crisp air on her face. However today she found it very difficult to enjoy any of these things. The tears ran down her cheeks as she stared down at the sheet of paper. Her brilliant blue eyes couldn't be torn from that simple piece of standard office white paper. The wind blew through her hair, tickling her, as if to trying to cheer her up. She huddled down in her sweatshirt more, rejecting its bitter frigidness. She could not even read the paper anymore because of her tears, though she had it committed to memory now.

The swing had always held great comfort for DG. When she was a child she would come and swing on it for hours at a time. She felt invincible on it, like nothing could ever harm her while she was there. Its magic held no effect on her today. She continued to cry and rock herself all the while desperately hoping this was just a bad dream. She knew in her heart that this was one nightmare that she wouldn't wake from.

Crumpling the paper and shoving it deep in her pocket, the young girl grasped the rusty metal chains fiercely. A new found anger coursed through her body as she pumped she legs to get the swing moving. It was his entire fault. He had done this to her. _'I'm too young for this to happen to me!' _She thought angrily. _'Hell, I'm only 18! This can't be happening!' _But it was. The harsh reality came crashing down around DG as the autumn wind sensed her fury and turned angry. The wind wiped through her hair while DG continued to move in her monotonous arc.

She tried to concentrate on anything else besides the memories that were nagging at her brain relentlessly. The endless gray sky, the leaves, the scarecrow that had no body... but it was to no avail. That damnable night kept replaying itself no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.

_DG sat on her boyfriend Ryan's lap on the bed in his dorm. A near empty bottle of wine lay forgotten on the floor. The two had been celebrating Ryan's first week of college life. His roommate, Justin, Had left that weekend to visit some friends leaving them all alone. DG nuzzled a little in to Ryan's neck loving the smell that was distinctly his. She trailed little kiss' up his neck and ran her hands through his soft red hair. Suddenly she felt him start to fiddle with her jean's button. _

"_What are you doing?"She asked. He had never done this before. She wasn't sure she was ready. Still he persisted with the button, so she asked again. _

"_Come on, Babe. Don't you love me?" he asked in an almost winey voice. He had managed to get her out of her pants by now and showed no signs of stopping._

"_Yes, I do love you. But I'm not sure if I want this yet." She replied slurring her words a little._

"_Of course you want this. " He was working on her green button up blouse now. "Why did you have to wear so many damn buttons?"He asked frustrated. The alcohol was making her head fuzzy and the feeling that his hands and mouth left behind on her skin sent tingles up her spine. _

"_Well, okay then." She consented. He had the most impish, triumphant grin she ever saw and she couldn't help but giggle at it. The rest of the night passed in a passionate, and drunken, blur._

She never heard from him again. He wouldn't return her calls and when she came to visit him he was always "busy". Rejection was swift and merciless. DG spent the next week locked in her room. She had meant it when she said she loved him and the harsh realization that she was only a quick screw was beyond comprehensible pain. Her parents, Hank and Emily, couldn't understand why she was pining for "That boy". They gave her the typical parental speech of "He's not worth all those tears" and "You can do better". Nothing helped. After a week of her moping DG started to feel sick with what she convinced herself to be the flu. Hank and Emily were very worried that DG's anguish was causing this and urged her to see the doctor. She went through two weeks of that awful flu and finally she decided to take her parents advice.

"_I'm a big girl, mom. I want to go by myself." DG exclaimed embarrassedly after her mom had suggested coming with her. _

"_Well, if you're sure." Emily stood wringing her apron nervously in her hands. Her daughter leaned in the door way of the kitchen. _

"_I'm legally an adult now. I can take care of myself. I'm just seeing about a stupid flu anyway." DG rolled her eyes. _

"_Don't you give me that look! I'm just concerned about you. I'm sure you can understand that..." Emily trailed off. DG realized that she had hurt her mom and gave her a quick hug._

"_I promise that it's nothing. I gotta go. See you later, mom." She left the house and the screen door made its usual resonating bang. Hopping on her motorcycle she sped off in to town. _

The sky was begging to darken. DG didn't know how long she had been swinging for. Time didn't seem to matter anymore. All she did know was that here steady tears had turned in to frantic sobs as she thought over the lead up to her dilemma. Her hands and legs screamed in protest, but she couldn't stop swinging from fear that she wouldn't be able to endure this knowledge off of the swing.

had wanted to take a blood sample because he couldn't figure out what was wrong. This had worried DG and she didn't want her parents to worry either. She had asked to not tell her parents anything, even if they called. At first he had protested until she mentioned that she was of age and if she didn't want to tell her parents she didn't have to. He told her that the blood test would take some time and to expect the results in the mail in two weeks.

So here she was two weeks later, exactly one month after that night with Ryan. Finally DG gave in and stopped swinging, allowing the momentum to eventually stop. She stared down at her hands for a moment. They were covered in rust and had indents from the chains impressed in her skin. She tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths. _'In... and out. In...and out' _she mentally commanded herself_._ She wiped away the tears with the back of her hands, so she wouldn't get rust in her eyes. Her crying was slowly but surely ceasing. A few moments later DG dared to brave another look at the paper. Her blood test. She vowed to herself from the second that she saw it that no one, especially Hank and Emily, could ever find out about this. Pulling the crumpled wad of paper out of her purple sweatshirt pocket, she smoothed it out on her lap.

**HIV Antibody test**

**Patient name: DG Westman**

**Report Status: Positive**

**Please Review! If you review you get my eternal gratitude! Again, no flames please. I tried to get my information strait for this. I Put in some of my own "wizard of oz" and "wicked" insinuations. Did ya catch them? More of the story coming soon!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Tin Man" or any of the characters except for my OCs**

**AN: Sorry that it's been a while since I've updated. I know how I want my story to go, it's just putting it in order is difficult. I'm also trying to focus on my school work so that I can grad :) **

**Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

**Chapter 2**

"_A storm is coming."_

The statement repeated itself throughout DG's half-asleep mind. With great difficulty she managed to open her eyes. Fatigue was her constant companion these days. Her eye lids felt like they were made of lead. Glancing at the clock she saw it was half past noon. Panic swept over her and she jumped out of bed running for her clothes. This would be the fifth time in two weeks that DG was late for work.

She often wondered why her boss, Carter, hadn't fired her by now. Carter was a big man with a temper to match. Though he was highly unpleasant he did pay a decent wage to his staff, probably because he was afraid of not being able to find replacements for them. DG felt strangely grateful to him because she could pay for her pills and save for her one way plane ticket to Australia.

She always felt a stab of guilt in the pit of her stomach when she thought of her run away plan. Her parents wouldn't know where she was or what became of her. She knew that they would feel abandoned but she figured that it was better than telling them that she was dying. Dying because of a stupid choice she made two years ago.

DG gave her head a quick shake as if trying to etcha-sketch her mind blank. She pulled on her coat and bounded down the stairs, out the door, and on to her motorcycle. The wind whipped passed her as she sped down the highway. Silently DG prayed that officer Gulch wouldn't catch her speeding. The sound of the familiar sirens filled the air and DG quickly swerved behind her work building, hoping to shake him off. She hurried in to the cafe dreading the "you're lucky to have a job" speech from Carter. Her bones began to ache a little as she pulled on the hideous blue plaid apron and tied her hair in to pig tails.

For a moment DG became lost in thought about her dream. She had had it many times before and she still couldn't understand what it meant. DG had never been superstitious, but she couldn't deny that the dream made her feel uneasy. _'Change is in the air' _DG thought.

"DG!" Carter's angry voice derailed her train of though. She hurried in to the kitchen mentally kicking herself for daydreaming.

"Sorry, Carter" DG mumbled. She hastily stuffed a French fry in to her mouth while Carter wasn't looking. The fries were far too salty she determined and didn't eat anymore, though hunger taunted her stomach.

"It's bad enough that Phoebe had to go take care of that potato head son of hers during the lunch rush," Carter exclaimed in annoyance. "But now we've got you perfecting the art of being late." DG rolled her eyes but felt a little guilty because she had been late a lot lately.

"Carter, guy at four wants a slice of French apple and a chunk of cheddar" Alice called. There was an unspoken agreement among the waitresses of "Hilltop Cafe" that they would distract Carter before he got too riled up in his anger spats. They all knew that Carter was kind of unpredictable and to have him mad at you was never good.

"It won't happen again" DG said quietly knowing that statement was a total lie.

had first diagnosed DG with HIV and told her she was in the second stage called "Seroconversion". During this stage her body that would produce antibodies to attempt to fight the disease. He told her that it generally lasted 3-6 months, however when she came back a month later was shocked to find her in stage three. Stage three is called "Asymptomatic stage" or "Symptom free". Basically she felt and looked healthy but was still sick. He told her that "Symptom free" lasts for many years, but apparently that didn't apply to DG. Now at the age of 20 she could feel the glorious "Symptom Free" stage leaving and being replaced with the final stage, AIDS. DG's pills seemed to have no effect on her but she was scared that if she stopped taking them her lifeline would shorten even more. The doctor was baffled. He had never before encountered such a fast case. At least not since the 80's, and the medication was proven to be more effective now a days. Many of his other patients lived up to 25 years after being diagnosed. It terrified DG to know that she would be lucky to see her next birthday.

"A lot of people would fight for a job like this" DG rolled her eyes. She had heard this speech from Carter several times. "Your future is in the here and know, kid. Don't throw it away" Of course every now and then Carter was capable of being wise.

"Fellow who wanted pie asked for you special, DG" Alice stated in her usual hurried way. DG took the pie and looked at Alice, clearly confused.

"You just gonna stand there? Go. Go,go!" Carter was back to his usual grumpy self. DG walked toward table four and sighed in exasperation.

"This isn't my day." DG set the pie on the table with more force than necessary.

"Sure isn't." Officer Gulch stated, while he handed her a speeding ticket.

"Thank-you" sarcasm dripped from DG's voice as she slipped the ticket in to her apron pocket and headed back to the kitchen.

The rest of the day went pretty slow. Every now and then a customer came in for a cup of coffee or a pastry. DG's shift was almost over when Carter sent her to wash up some dishes. Alice came by with a stack of plates to unload on her. They clanged noisily in the sink.

"So, what's been with you lately? You know I can't keep covering for you when you're late." Alice was a very kind woman, but she had started to get on DG's nerves more and more. She could tell that DG had become sad and quick tempered and persisted to get information from her.

"I really don't know what you mean." DG said coldly unaware that she had also shifted her posture to be stiff.

"Oh, come on" Alice said as she leaned against the counter. "You can tell me. I know something is bothering you and has been for a while now." Alice pursed her lips and placed her index figure against them, feigning deep concentration. She did a once over sweep with her eyes over DG which made the young girl stiffen even more. "It's a boy isn't it?" DG ignored her and continued with the dishes. Alice miss read her silence as a confirmation. "Oh, you kids are all the same. You never have any _real_ problems. Now, why don't you tell Alice all about it?"

DG finally snapped. Throwing the dish rag in to the soapy water, she turned to face Alice and placed a wet hand on her hip.

"You have no idea what you are talking about." DG spoke in a dangerously quiet and cold voice. The fire in her eyes made Alice recoil a few steps back. "Who the hell do you think you are, trying to pry information from me when it's obvious that I don't want to talk!" Her voice rose to be loud enough to be intimidating but not loud enough for anyone else to hear. "You should keep your nose in your own damn business!" DG glanced at the clock which read 5:00. She snatched the rag out of the sink and gave it to Alice. "My shift is over." DG exclaimed coldly as she head for the back room to get her street clothes, leaving a stunned Alice in her wake.

'_That woman can be so irritable!' _DG thought as she sped her way back home. _'Honestly, it's none of her damn business! _

The open road always calmed DG. When she was on her beloved motorcycle she always felt that she could out run her problems, if only for a little while. Of course choosing this as an outlet often led to her getting in trouble with officer Gulch.

'_How am I going to explain another ticket? Popsicle is gonna blow his top! Why don't you ever think, DG? They're not going to bail you out of paying another ticket, which means that it's gonna take longer to get to Australia. How can you be so stupid?!' _DG felt tears sting at the back of her eyes but refused to release them. She would just have to take on more shifts, that's all. Not at all pleasant but very doable.

DG parked the bike outside the house and noticed her dad working on the turbine. _'A mechanics work is never done' _she thought as she strode over to him. DG had always loved the way the grass turned gold in the summer. Its long blades brushed against her legs as she set off down the path. It was one of the many things she knew she would miss about this place. She tried to shake off the pang of sorrow and replace it with her cheery act as she neared her father.

"Ah! God's sakes!" Hank exclaimed. The turbine was obviously giving him more trouble than DG expected.

"That bad, popsicle?" DG asked. Hank let out a frustrated sigh.

"The barometer's fallen, the winds rising, and I can't get these new turbines to throw a watt. The spinners in Mill Town were never as complicated as this." DG gave a small giggle. It was amazing that her dad could always make her feel better without even meaning to.

"Well everything is better in Mill Town." DG stated. Her dad was constantly making references to his childhood home, the seemingly perfect Mill Town. She bent down and grabbed a screw driver. DG's constant help with anything mechanical use to wound Hank's pride but he had long since gotten over it. He stopped working on the turbine and turned to face DG. She could easily fix it without his help.

"Well, I did have to walk three miles through the snow to get to school..." Hank said teasingly. DG smirked at that. Her pops was always exaggerating about these sorts of things. She remembered when the snowy walk was only two miles.

"Heard you tossing and turning again last night..." Hank trailed off leaving room for his daughter to speak. They so rarely spoke to each other about anything personal anymore. All her got was a small "yeah..." in response.

"That creepy cave nightmare again?" He prompted. DG knew her dad well enough to know that he wasn't going to let this go. Silently she cursed the day that she told her parents about the dream. It had seemed harmless enough to tell them about it, but they were constantly asking about it. It was really starting to annoy her. She decided that she might as well tell him everything about it now instead of dragging it out, otherwise it could lead to one of those "heart to heart" talks that she was always dreading.

"Yeah, it was different this time. I wasn't alone. There was a woman there. She had the most beautiful lavender eyes I've ever seen." DG said hastily.

"Liz Taylor?" Hank joked with one of his infamous grins. A genuine laugh escaped DG, which caught Hank off guard. It had been a while since he had heard her laugh like that.

"No. Here, actually I drew a picture of her." DG handed her sketch pad over to Hank who studied it with appraising eyes.

"Whoa, she could escort me through my dreams any night."

"She said a storm is coming" DG noted. Hank looked at her with a startled expression on his face.

"What storm?" DG thought it odd that he was taking her silly dream so seriously but also felt irritated that she was becoming worried from it. She knew that her parents were keeping a secret from her that has something to do with her dream. She could see it in their eyes every time the dream was mentioned. The worst part was that if she accused them of holding a secret from her she would feel like a huge hypocrite. After all, her secret was driving her out of the country. Instead she shrugged it off.

"I don't know. I'll ask for clarification next time." DG said trying to sound indifferent. The turbine made a buzzing sound and the propeller started to turn.

"Oh, ho ho! Alright!" Hank exclaimed excitedly. They both straightened up and He passed DG her sketch pad back. He pulled DG in to a hug that she didn't feel she deserved. Hank noticed her stiffness but said nothing. They both were silent on the walk back to the house.

As they made their way up the front steps Emily backed out the front door laden with a tray of tea.

"Hey!" she said cheerily. "I saw you two working out there and thought you might want some tea."

"Sounds dandy!" Hank said enthusiastically. They walked to the small table on the porch where they often had breakfast in the summer. When they were all seated Emily started to pass out the tea and cookies. For a while they ate in uncomfortable silence. DG knew that she would have to tell them about the speeding ticket soon and decided to bite the bullet and get it over with now. She pulled the ticket out of her pocket and handed it wordlessly to Emily. For a moment Emily just stared at it and then let out a frustrated sigh.

"Not again, DG." She groaned. Hank took a sideways glance at it. He shot her a disappointed look before standing up and pacing the other end of the porch. DG's heart sank a little at that look. The only thing worse than being yelled at by her father was that disappointed look. That look frequently made her feel like she wasn't, nor ever would be, a good enough daughter. Tears stinged the back of her eyes and she turned to face the daisy plant that was sitting on the porch railing so no one would see.

"Elmer Gulch is a menace to the community." she said in a surprisingly steady voice. She groaned internally at how much that sounded like an excuse.

"Menace or no, he's an officer of the law. You're going to have to face the judge. Officer Gulch wants you in jail." Emily said sounding irritated. DG smirked at that.

"He doesn't want me in jail. He wouldn't have anyone to chase then!" DG knew this was true. Considering her many encounters with him she was surprised she never got a harsher punishment. She suspected that it was all a game to him. After all in a small town like this there was only some much the police had to do. She was really doing him a favour stirring up trouble every now and then.

"This is not a joke! We'll be lucky if they just impound your bike." Emily said nervously as she put the tea cups on the tray. DG's smile faltered a little at the thought of any one taking her beloved bike.

"He can't impound my bike if I take off on it." DG said this more to be defiant than anything else.

"I was wondering if you were planning a trip." Emily said sarcastically. She slapped the many travel books and brochures on to the table. DG turned and glanced between the books and her mom.

"You went through my stuff?" she asked horrified. If they had managed to find her travel books maybe they also found her pills. DG's face blanched despite her loud pulse that she half expected them to hear. Her father approached her nervously. _'At least he has the decency to look a little ashamed!'_

"She's been worried, we both have. You've been acting strange. Distant." Concern saturated his voice and made DG cringe a little.

"If you spend your every spare moment drawing your pictures, dreaming of another life you're going to wind up never living the one you got." Emily said feeling hurt that her baby girl was planning on leaving her. Even worse that she didn't plan on telling them that she was going. Something had broken between them a while ago, Emily wasn't sure when. She missed the days when her daughter came to her with her problems, now she was lucky if DG told her how her day was.

"But this isn't my life. This town that job taking other peoples orders? That's just passing time. There has to be more to life than this." The lies came more naturally to DG now then they use to. It was something she did constantly for the past two years, so it didn't surprise her to realize this.

"And you really think you'll find better out there?" Emily hadn't meant for that to sound as harsh as it did. She didn't mean to insinuate that her daughter was incapable of holding down a better job than waitressing, but she was hurt. And in turn she wanted to hurt DG. She regretted the words once she saw DG's face crumble in despair, mistaking the cause to be her words.

"Look, I love you guys. I just don't feel at home here. I don't think I ever have." DG choked out the last of her statement as a sob built in her chest. She rushed inside so they wouldn't see the tears that would fall in seconds.

DG burst in her room as sobs wracked her chest. Panic swept over her as she paced her room. Now that her parents had found out about Australia she didn't know what to do. Everything had been so carefully planned. It was only a matter of time before they asked her why she was leaving. Even if she didn't tell them the evidence would start to show up on her body soon. What would they think of their sweet little girl when they found out about her illness? _'God, They'll be so embarrassed of me' DG thought. _

DG found a small comfort in the fact that they obviously didn't find her medication. It would have been mentioned if they did. She could take some time before she had to tell them. _'Time...' DG thought. 'My greatest enemy and most trusted friend...' _

DG brushed her tears away hurriedly. She didn't cry as much about her situation anymore. It was as if she had gotten use to the idea of dying. However, every now and then reality gave her a harsh slap in the face, which would leave her crying in despair. So many people were left to suffer over her idiotic mistake.

DG felt the urge to draw, but then remembered she left her sketch pad on the table outside. She didn't dare venture a trip downstairs, so she grabbed a copy of "Gone with the Wind" from her book shelf and snuggled up on her bed. Reading was one of her favourite ways of relaxing. It was so easy to read about someone else's problems for a while instead of facing her own. She was faintly aware of her parents talking in the kitchen but she was too wrapped up in Rhett Butler's proposal to Scarlet to care much about it.

She had only gotten a few pages in when she was interrupted. This aggravated her slightly. She hated it when her reading was disturbed.

"Knock, Knock!" Hank called in his normal chipper voice. DG laid her book aside on the bedside table and looked at her dad expectantly. He crossed the room to be near her, though not as near as he would have liked. Sensing DG's discomfort he kept his distance.

"You know your mom loves you more than anything in this world." He assured her, hoping that she wasn't too angry at her mom. After all she only did it because she was concerned for her child.

"I know, I just wish she understood how I felt." DG said quietly. This was partially true. Sometimes she wished that someone knew about her secret so she wouldn't feel so alone.

"You know, you're as good an artist as you are mechanic." Hank strode over to DG's wall, which was filled with sketches and paintings. His daughter's talent never ceased to amaze him. "The worlds going to be your oyster someday" said Hank. DG felt a twinge of misery deep inside her chest, as she always did when someone discussed her future. She quickly snapped out of it before her father could see the hurt in her eyes. Hank turned to observe the other art filled wall. "I remember when I was in Mill Town-"

"Dad could you please stop talking about your perfect childhood in Mill Town?" DG interrupted. "This is real life" annoyance bubbled in her chest. The rational part of her brain knew she was being bratty, but she couldn't help getting annoyed when her dad brought up Mill Town. When he was her age he was living in paradise. She was living in hell with nowhere to escape to. Jealously is an irrational emotion that creeps up at the oddest times.

"Harass your old man all you want, these sketches remind me of home." Hank said sharply. He was starting to get use to DG's moodiness. Though she hadn't been a moody child, or teen for that matter. Hank couldn't quite pin point when his daughter had so suddenly changed.

"No matter where we find ourselves home is where your heart is." Hank said with a comforting smile coming back to his original reason for being here; to help DG.

"I can't stay here forever" DG said in almost a warning tone. Hank settled himself down on to the bed and looked at his daughter with sad eyes.

"There's a place and a time where we learn where we are suppose to be, and your almost there." He said quietly. He struggled a bit before adding "and don't forget all of life's answers are-"

"Are found along the old road. I remember." DG said in a bored voice. She had heard her dad's words of wisdom many times before. Not that these odd sayings ever made sense to her. When she was a child she use to ask what it meant, but Hank would always answer "You'll know when you're older". Now she was older and she still didn't know what it meant. Sometimes she wondered if her dad was dropped on his head when he was a baby. It would certainly explain a lot.

Hank looked slightly crest fallen that his daughter no longer took his advice seriously. He tried again with one of his old stories.

"How about the one about the daughter of light who searches-"

"In time on a sea of ice. You gotta get some new material, dad." DG was getting really tired of her dad's silly fairy tales. She felt a little guilty that she kept was behaving like this when Hank genuinely wanted to help. She reached out and grabbed his hand, hoping that the connection would somehow make this conversation more bearable.

"You've got to realize that I'm not a little girl anymore." DG saw the pain that often fills fathers eyes when they realize that their children don't need them anymore. DG also wished that she could be a child again. Back in those days everything was so simple. There were no secrets in the family and everyone was happy.

"You'll always be my baby girl." Hank said. DG smiled a little enjoying the comfort of her father's love. For a moment they just sat in comfortable silence pondering their own thoughts. Hank stood up and sighed.

"I better go and tell your mother that you're alright." Hank trudged toward the door and DG felt a twinge of confusion.

"Why didn't she come to talk to me?" Hank paused for a moment but said nothing and left the room.

'_Maybe she thinks I would have yelled at her for looking through my things.'_ DG thought. _'What a mess. Mom and I use to be so close. I've ruined it for all of us._' DG let regret wash over her as she picked up her teddy bear off the floor and hugged it to her chest. It surprised Hank and Emily that their 20 year old daughter refused to give up her teddy bear, but DG liked to be able to say everything she was feeling to someone who wouldn't laugh, yell, or cry at her.

'_I wonder what popsicle was talking about with that "Time and a place where you learn who your suppose to be" junk. I know where I'm going to be pretty soon. Six feet under. Nothing's going to be able to stop that.' _DG thought cynically. DG turned on to her side on her bed still crushing her bear to her chest. Fatigue dropped over her like a heavy shroud and her eye lids got that familiar heavy feel. _'He's going to be so disappointed when he finds out... whenever that is... maybe he and mom will be happier without me. After all I haven't been a good daughter... maybe they'll start over with another kid once I'm gone... or adopt. They'll be so much happier... _

DG drifted off in to sleep when a single tear escaped her eye and fell across the bridge of her nose on to her pillow. She dreamed the same strange dream. It felt different from all of her other dreams because it had a sense of urgency to it. Flickers of images ran through her mind. Fire. A man with an odd machine. Lavender eyes. A swing. A lantern. A bear. Apple. Lavender eye's omniscient warning.

"A storm is coming! A storm is coming!" the woman urged. DG was falling from her trying desperately to grasp the woman. A doll in a green dress was spinning. "A storm is coming!"

DG awoke suddenly as if the warning had been screamed in her ear. She got up sluggishly and made her way over to the window. Her big blue eyes widened as she looked out it. Night had fallen out side, but that's not what surprised her. It was the fact that an enormous hurricane was rapidly advancing on her house.

DG ran from her room to warn her family to get in to the cellar. When she arrived downstairs she saw her father lying on the ground.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Her dad glanced at her with panic written on his face. She soon understood why as she was grabbed from behind. DG kicked and screamed and the man made the mistake of putting his hand over her mouth. She bit it and ran to aid her dad. Together they tipped a book case over so it pinned him to the ground.

DG could hear guns being fired and prayed that none of the bullets hit them. She saw her mom and they ran up to DG's bed room. DG heard one last gun go off and her dad cry out in pain. Her heart stopped for a moment as she feared the worst.

"Dad!" She screamed in terror. Relief washed over her when she heard him reply that he was okay and hurriedly told them to go. They shut DG's door behind them and tipped her bookcase over to barricade it. DG's mind was teeming with hundreds of questions that she knew she had no time to ask, so she decided on the most important.

"Dad, who are those guys?"

"Longcoats" he answered hurriedly as he opened her window.

"What?" Now she was way past confused.

"This isn't how it was planned!" Emily complained.

"I know but it's our only chance! We gotta take her there now!"Hank said ushering DG toward the window.

"Take me where?!" DG was panicking and her mom had to push her toward the open window.

"There's no time to explain, DG!" she said as she forced her child in to the windy night. DG briefly thought it ironic that her parents were forcing her out of the same window that she had many times before snuck out of. Not that they knew that. DG crouched on all fours frightened that the wind would sweep her away. Her parents joined her on the roof.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" She called.

"Trust me!" He yelled back. DG doubted that there would be much trust between them if she survived this ordeal.

"You have to jump!" Emily shouted. DG's eyes bugged for a second at the thought of willingly entering the hurricane.

"No!" She yelled back horrified.

"You have to jump!" Hank insisted as he tried to pull her up to her feet.

"No!" DG tried to pull away from him but he was to strong. DG could feel the unnaturally cold wind pierce through her skin and seep in to her bones.

"We have to go, DG! The longcoats are after you!" Hank bellowed, his voice was nearly taken away by the wind.

"What? Why?" DG asked, scared of what the answer might be.

"Because it's time!" Emily said in almost an affectionate way. DG thought this was a stupid answer.

"Time for what?"she asked. She saw the "longcoats" start to come through her window and on to the roof. Suddenly her dad grabbed her by her shirt and the top of her jeans.

"What are you doing?!" DG hollered.

"You have to trust us!" was his parting words as he threw her in to the eye of the storm. DG shrieked as she fell. But soon after that she was no longer falling, but was tossed around the hurricane as if she were a rag doll. The roar of the wind filled her ears and she could no longer hear her own screams. The frigid wind punctured her like a million needles. Within minutes she fell on to something hard and flat. Her world turned black and she knew no more.

**Wow... longest chapter I've ever written. Please leave a review if you like the story! Thanks! **


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Tin Man" or any characters, yadda yadda yadda. Writing disclaimers gets really annoying. **

**Chapter 3**

The trees swam in DG's vision as she blinked her eyes. The moist smell of moss, dirt and pine invaded her nose. Slowly the world came in to focus and DG sat up. Her body ached from the effort and she had a splitting headache. The headache was making her feel a little nauseous, so for a moment she just sat breathing deeply.

DG looked around and noticed debris from her house scattered around her. Her stomach dropped when she realized that she was alone. Where were her parents? Were they alright?

"Mom?" She called out shakily.

"Dad?" Her voice echoed in the trees. No response came. DG turned in a full circle, trying to get her bearings.

"Where am I?" She asked herself faintly. Two suns glowed brightly in the sky, but for some reason it wasn't twice as warm here, where ever here was. DG heard a noise and turned around sharply. Perhaps a little too sharply as she staggered and clutched her pounding head. No one was there. Still holding her head, she walked cautiously toward the house rubble. She spotted a large stick and picked it up to defend herself if need be. The thought of DG fighting off anything was ridiculous as she was still very disoriented and weak. However the crude weapon gave her comfort no matter how unlikely the odds were of her victory. She heard the sound again coming from behind her. She turned, and again no one was there.

"Hello?" She called timidly. She glanced around in anticipation. She could hear voices but couldn't see where they were coming from. The trees seemed to be endlessly tall. They made her feel smaller than ever. DG paced around and heard the sound again. She whirled around and almost laughed at the sight before her. Two midgets in ridiculous face paint glared at her. They had spears and were connected to rope pulleys.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me." DG exclaimed. More of the midgets dropped down from behind her and circled her.

"Be watchful!" One of them warned. DG assumed he was the leader. "I like not the look of her!"

One of the Lilliputians, who was painted in green, came forward to attack DG.

"Back off, Jack!" She said while whacking him with her stick. DG was rather proud of herself. She thought she was holding her ground quite well.

"And gaze not in to her eyes, for fear she'll turn you in to a skree!" The Munchkin leader added.

"Who are you?" The red one next to him asked.

"I'm DG. Who are you?"

"I'm Red Hat. We are resistance fighters of the Eastern Guild." He informed.

"Do not speak of who we be. We know not of her trickery!" The leader scolded.

"Trickery? My parents are missing. I am the victim of some sort of natural disaster-" DG was cut off by Red Hat.

"Creatures do not fall from the sky lacking magic."

'_I fell from the sky?' _DG couldn't help but glance up. _'No wonder I hurt so badly. Thank god the case isn't my symptoms took a dive for the worse!'_

"Mobats fall from the sky." The leader interjected.

"Mobats have wings!" Red Hat argued.

"Wings or not she's a spy! A spy from the sky!" The leader shook his spear at DG and the others started to close in on her.

"No, I'm not a spy. I'm not a spy." DG backed up away from the dwarfs only to be caught in a net trap. The dwarfs, obviously pleased with snaring the girl in their trap, snickered at each other.

"Get her to the camp." Red Hat called.

'_Well isn't this just peachy?'_ DG thought bitterly. _'I managed to get trapped by a bunch of lawn gnomes. God, I'm so pathetic!'_

DG struggled with her rope cage but despite her efforts it didn't break. The little munchkins lowered a wooden cage to the ground and forced her in to it. It was also on a rope pulley. It wasn't until then that DG noticed the village that was constructed in the tree tops. She couldn't help but admire the effort that it must have taken for these people to build a village in the trees.

Out of the things that DG thought that she might accomplish in her life, arguing with short guys in face paint, 100 feet off the ground, on whether she was a spy for an evil witch, was not among it. But here she was, bantering with these shorties for a good 20 minutes on such a ridiculous idea.

'_This must be some weird, delusional dream caused by my medication or something. I'll have to talk to the doc about this once I wake up..." _DG thought in aggravation.

"Will Azkadellia attack from the east?" One of the munchkins asked for the third time.

"Who?" DG asked in a bored voice. She kind of like how riled up they got.

"The sorceress azkadellia, the one for whom you spy! From which direction will her men come? Will they walk or will they fly?" The blue gnome asked in frustration.

"Okay. How many times do I have to tell you that nothing you've said has made sense to me?" DG asked, getting tired of playing this game. Her parents were getting further and further away. She had no time for this.

"Perhaps she is just a girl." The red gnome suggested.

"Yes! I am! I'm just a girl!" DG seized her chance to possible get out of the cage and leave.

"Azkadellia has raided most all villages searching for the stone. Are we next on her list!" The red gnome continued, ruling out his own suggestion that DG was an innocent girl.

"I don't know about any list but if this is how you treat strangers I'm not surprised you have enemies."

The blue gnome opened DG's locket, which she hadn't realized she had dropped, and stared at the pictures.

"Can you please put my locket down? It has sentimental value." DG felt her temper flare a little at the prospect of them damaging her locket. It had been a high school graduation present, and it was very dear to her.

"Our scouts spotted these two being pursued by long coats on the brick route to central city."The red midget stated accusingly.

"Or leading the long coats there..." Blue midget suggested.

"Somebody saw my parents?" DG asked excitedly.

"You say parents? I say spies! There is only one way to know whether she speaks truth our lies. Strap her to the flare! She talks, or dies! " The blue midget stated, and DG's heart felt as though it had dropped in to her stomach.

"Warm up the blades." The red midget ordered with a menacing glare.

"Squeal as you peel, until the truth brings a deal!" With that the blue midget dropped her locket to the ground. DG watched it plummet to the earth floor. She had never been afraid of heights, but seeing the distance to the ground from her cage was a little unsettling. Especially since she was entrusting her life to the rope which was suspending her cell.

"Hey!" She cried out in fearful desperation. "You guys are out of your tiny minds!"

'_How am I going to get out of this?'_DG thought as she tried to gather up her courage. She felt the sensation of someone watching her and glanced up to see a man tied to the ceiling of her cage. It amazed her that she had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed him before. Holding on to the wooden bars of the cage, she cautiously got up and stared at him curiously.

"What are you doing-" She began.

"Up here?" he finished her obvious question looking mildly annoyed. "Little ANKLE BITTERS!" he yelled so the munchkins could here, "thought it would be funny to keep me hanging around..."

An idea occurred to him and DG could practically see the light bulb turn on.

"Loosen the rope and I might have the last laugh!"

DG glanced between him and the rope that held him up. She wasn't sure what to make of this. He might be a real criminal, or he could be innocent like her.

"Come on doll, if mom and pop really are on their way to central city, then you're falling further and further behind." The man stated.

"You know the way?" DG jumped on the opportunity to reunite with her parents, or at least see if they were okay.

"Sure! Though it's kind of hard to give directions like this. Unless you have a better offer...?" He glanced meaningfully at the rope.

DG decided to take the risk and free the man. He slid down to the floor of their cage and brushed himself off. It was then that DG noticed the long zipper on top of the man's head, buried in the mass of black curls.

"What the hell...?" She knew that it wasn't polite to stare but she couldn't help but gape at him.

"Hey, you aren't so hot on first glance either, honey." He said defensively. She continued to stare shamelessly at him until he squirmed a little under her gaze.

"What? Is there a problem?" He asked.

"Oh, um, your zzz..." She started and he looked at her expectantly.

"Your zipper's undone." She stage whispered to him blushing a little at the absurdity of the situation.

"Oh! I didn't mean to offend." He said and zipped up his skull. DG watched in a weird sort of fascination.

"Gotta be careful not to lose your marbles!" He said making a really lame joke. DG gave him a forced smile. "But since the sorceress made her medi-coats take mine... well, you flick the abacus."

"Why would they remove your brain?" She asked.

"Because of what I know. Or use to know. Whatever it was..." An awkward silence passed between them.

"Name's Glitch," He introduced himself with a huge grin. "On account of sometimes my synapses don't fire right. Sometimes my synapses don't fire right."

"You just said that." DG said.

"Did I?" Glitch asked with a surprised look. "There you go, glitching again!" He continued still smiling.

"And here I thought this nightmare couldn't get any weirder." DG said, although she was starting to realize that this wasn't a dream. Dreams never feel this real, and she would never be able to create this scenario. Even in her subconscious.

"This isn't a nightmare, this is the OZ. The Outer Zone. Use to be a piece of heaven too, until Azkadee got her claws in to it." Glitch finished with a bit of bitterness. DG realized that he was referring to the same woman that the lawn gnomes had been asking about.

"Azkadellia! The sourceress of darkness! Villiage raider, brain theif!" DG stated and Glitch nodded.

From off in the distance DG heard the Blue munchkin yell that "longcoats" were coming. She felt anger and fear boil inside her that the same men that made her flee her home, and get separated from her parents were back. No doubt they would kill her if they got the chance, so without much thought she crouched down and dangled in the hole at the bottom of the cage.

"What are you doing?" Glitch asked nervously. He clung on to one of the bars as DG started to make the cage swing.

"I have an idea!" she called back to him.

"Hello? DG, it's too high to jump! I really don't think this is a good idea! Come back! Come back right now!"

Ignoring his pleas, she gathered momentum and jumped on to the bridge that the two munchkins had been standing on to question her.

"Come on!" She called to Glitch. "We don't have much time!"

Reluctantly, Glitch followed. Together they raced down the Bridge to a platform that was built on a tree. DG spotted a rope that lead to the ground and started to climb to freedom.

Adrenaline pumped through DG's veins, as she ran through the trees of the forest. She could hear Glitches footsteps not far behind her. She couldn't remember the last time she ran this long, or fast.

She smiled a little as the familiarity of running made her think of her best friend, Jessica Brinshaw, and the hours the spent as kids playing tag and grounders. Of course, she had not spoken to Jessica since she found out that she was HIV positive. She stopped speaking to all of her friends when she found out how quickly her life was slipping away. It would be much easier on them if they just lost contact, rather than them having to cope with a dying friend, and the grief that would inevitably follow. It was painful to cut so many loved ones out of her life, especially Jessica, but it had to be done. It had helped that Jessica moved to New York after completing high school to pursue her dream of being on Broadway. With six states of distance between the two it wasn't as if Jessica could drop by and demand an explanation.

Soon DG began to run out of stamina. She was sure that the Longcoats were gone from their trail, so she stopped to catch her breath. A couple of minutes later Glitch caught up to her and sat on a log, panting.

"You're really fast..." He gasped in between breaths. DG gave him a strange look and joined him on the log.

"Well, being pursued by people who will most likely kill us if they get the chance, does give me somewhat of an adrenaline high..." She said breathlessly and started to have a coughing fit.

'_Wow... I'm really out of shape.' _She thought as she recovered from her coughing attack. Vaguely she wondered how long she had been here, in The OZ. The thought of time made her realize that she left all of her pills at home.

DG's eyes widened and her face turned as white as a sheet. She had no idea how long it would be until she got home, or if she would ever return. Her disease was already moving extraordinarily fast while she was on medication. How fast would it go now that she had none?

"Hey, you okay?" Glitch asked her. He had recovered from the run enough to notice her shocked face.

"Oh, yeah. It's just, uh-" DG tried to think up something to tell him. "Everything is just catching up to me, I guess..."

Glitch gave her a quizzical look. Clearly he didn't understand what she meant.

"It's just hitting me now that I'm in a different world, on the run from Longcoats, while searching for my parents." She explained. Glitch cracked a smile.

"Don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to us" He said reassuringly. His smile was infectious and soon DG was also smiling.

"Speaking of which," She started "You said you'd give me directions to the..."

"Brick route." He supplied.

"Yes that." She said getting up and he did the same.

"Alright than, let's go!" He said with enthusiasm. He took one step and stumbled over the log that they had just been sitting on. DG giggled a little at his clumsiness.

They had been walking through the forest for hours and DG was starting to get annoyed at how talkative Glitch was. Well, more specifically, how he kept asking her questions about her life. As if he was trying to get to know her. She couldn't help but give him cold, short answers, even though she knew he was just trying to be friendly.

"Are you sure you know the way to central city?" DG asked after about two hours of walking.

"Shining city on the hill? Sure!" He replied. His synapses misfired and he repeated himself three more times until DG elbowed him in the ribs.

"My noggin wasn't always like this, you know." He said looking a little embarrassed. "In my heyday I was the government's advisor numero one." He stated proudly with one of his wide smiles. "I was the top dogs... right hand man." He held up his right hand to literate his point. "They would have all been fine but her..." He trailed off with a look of sorrow in his eyes. Indeed he couldn't fathom why he felt so sad for someone he could barely remember.

"But her...?" DG's voice broke his thought chain.

"But her..." Glitch tried to remember what it was he was talking about. "I would love a fresh ear of corn with some butter right now. Wouldn't you?"

DG sighed. She was getting a bit frustrated at how Glitch's mind bounced from topic to topic. It was almost childlike how he did this, and also how his emotions were so close to the surface all the time.

Glitch stumbled over a log, and it was with some distress that DG realized that it was the same log he tripped on at the beginning of their journey.

"You said you knew the way to the old brick route." She said, calling his bluff.

"Well of course I do! It's only the main thou row fair in all of The OZ. Why?" He asked sounding uneasy.

"Because that's the same log you tripped on hours ago. We've just gone in a big circle." DG indicated with her finger in a circular motion.

"A circle... not again. The road is around her somewhere I know it!" He said determinedly. Just then DG heard yelling in the distance. "You look familiar. Have we met before?" Glitch asked.

"Shh! Did you hear that?" DG asked. For a moment they were silent.

"Yeah. No." Glitch whispered, but then started to hear the shouting.

DG followed the sound down the grassy hill and emerged out of the trees with Glitch behind her. She looked on at a horrific fight between a man and the longcoats.

"Those guys are everywhere!" DG exclaimed. The man's wife and son were forced out of the house. A sense of Deja vu over took DG. This had happened to her family only hours before, except they had managed to escape. A longcoat punched the son as he had tried to help his father.

"Yeah, that's life in The OZ these days. Tough and tougher. But even with half a brain I can tell, we gotta get out of here." Glitch said, but a strange mixture of compassion and anger compelled DG to grab a thick stick from the forest floor and charge at the men.

"Oh cripes! DG this isn't your fight!" Glitch called after her.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" She yelled as she swung her stick at one of the longcoats. However the stick went through the man and then the entire scene disappeared. "What just happened?" She asked Glitch. Glitch spotted an odd looking machine that resembled a projector sticking out of a wooden post. "What is it?" DG asked.

"A TDESPHTL. A Tri Dimensional Energy Stored Projected Holographic Time Loop." Glitch clarified. "Nifty little thing." He murmered. "Hey! I think I invented it..." DG could almost see the gears shifting in his head as he tried to recall something.

"So it was all fake?" She asked.

"No. It happened sometime or another."

"Why would they have it playing over and over again if there was no one here to watch it?" DG glanced around trying to see if, indeed, anyone was there. Her eyes landed on a strange looking tin suit. It looked like a deep sea diver's suit. She walked over to it, ignoring whatever Glitch had said. She knocked on the suite and someone inside knocked back.

"There's someone in there." She said to Glitch, Who had wandered over to her.

"Or something." He replied, shock etched in every line of his face. DG searched around for something to free who or whatever was inside. Grabbing a hammer she moved back to the metal suit and popped the metal pins out. The door swung open and a most foul stench wafted out, causing DG and Glitch to gag. A man fell out on to the grass. His hair and beard were extremely long and he was covered in tin residue.

"Are you okay?" DG asked.

"Where are they?" The man asked breathlessly. Neither DG nor Glitch knew if the man was referring to the longcoats or his family. They remained silent as the man slowly rose to his feet and made his way over to The TDESPHTL. For a moment he just stared at the device which had tortured him for so long. He yanked it out of the post and let it fall to the ground, where it was lost amongst the unkempt grass. "I'm gonna kill him." He stated with vehemence saturating his voice.

DG and Glitch watched in wide eyed fascination as the man entered briefly in to his home, only to return with a straight razor. Without pausing the man made a direct course for the nearby lake. DG and Glitch followed behind him and watched as he jumped in to the lake. DG began to worry as he stayed under the surface for a while. Suddenly he burst out of the water surface and gasped for air. The tin ran in lines down his face and disappeared in to the water.

Once all the tin had washed off of him, he climbed out of the water and made his way toward the house, again. DG watched wearily.

"What is your name?" She asked him as he passed by. He stopped and turned to face her, quirking an eyebrow.

"Wyatt Cain." He replied.

"I'm DG and this is..." But Cain had already turned back toward the house.

"Well, that was rude." Glitch said to DG. She shrugged and turned to face him.

"Well he's been trapped in a tin box for, what looks like, years. I'll forgive his impertinence." She said sarcastically. When Cain emerged from the house he wore a new set of clothes and his hair and beard had been hacked back severely. Using the smooth lake surface as a mirror he shaved his beard and trimmed his hair, so it was more even. DG thought that he cleaned up rather well.

"So he just had to stand there and watch as his family got tortured over and over again?" DG asked Glitch in a small voice.

"The most imaginative tortures are saved for those who resist Azkadellia." Glitch explained quietly. DG suddenly became very aware of Glitch's zippered skull and felt a rush of empathy toward him.

"How long were you trapped in there?" She asked Cain as he drew nearer to them.

"Since that was a sapling." He indicated toward a thin tree, which looked to be about 15 feet tall. "Much obliged for the help."

"You're welcome Mr. Cain. I'm DG, by the way, and this is-"She repeated herself ,since he had ignored her first introduction, but he cut her off anyway.

"I know a Headcase." He said while bending down near the base of his house. He pulled out a small box that was hidden there.

"I have a proper name you know... and when I remember it I will tell you." Glitch said indignantly.

"What's a Headcase?" DG asked as Cain pulled out a gun holster and put it on.

"It's what the state does to re-educate criminals. Rip out there brains; make them prisoners of their own minds." Cain went silent for a moment and DG saw that he was holding a small ceramic horse. It looked like a child had painted it, and DG's heart ached to realize that it probably belonged to his son.

"Ain't that right, convict?" Cain asked Glitch with a little bitterness.

"Hey! Whoa! I ain't no convict! And just in case I am, it was a bogus charge! A frame job, I'm sure of it!" Glitch stated. DG gave him a cautious look and entertained the idea of Glitch being a criminal. She didn't want to travel with him for long if he was.

'_No, he's far too sweet and childish to be a criminal.'_ DG thought and gave him a small smile. She just noticed then that Cain had left to get a coat and hat. 

"Yeah, well, I'll see you down the road." He said to them with a slight tip of his fedora.

"Well, actually, a road it what were looking for. We're looking for the brick route that leads to central city. Do you know of it?" DG asked, hoping that she could finally get some directions.

"Yeah, its where Zero's headed after... It's where I'm headed now." Cain said with a vicious glint in his eye. DG paid it no heed.

"Great! We'll go with you!" She said excitedly as he started to walk toward the forest.

"I got business. Besides I don't travel with kids or convicts."

"Um, I'm not a kid, and the people who came to your home came to mine. I'm just trying to find my parents." She said in frustration. There was no way that she was going to pass up this chance. In such a strange world, who knew how long it would be until she found someone with a whole brain and knew the way.

"And I'm trying to find my brain!" Glitch added.

"And maybe we can help you find-" DG started. Cain whirled around and looked her in the eye.

"Help me find what? My wife? My boy? They're gone. Probably just like your folks are." He said sullenly. He started walking again and DG didn't follow. He stopped and sighed. He turned back to look at her. "Look, nothing personal, kid. But look at you. First sign of trouble and you're just going to cut and run."

DG thought this was quite uncalled for as she was the one who charged a group of longcoats armed with nothing but a stick. She felt a familiar anger bubble inside her.

"Nothing personal, but when we found you, you were in a tin box! You don't know me! Come on Glitch, we'll find the way ourselves!" She said furiously. She walked passed Cain with Glitch on her tail, when he spoke in a slightly annoyed tone.

"The way? The way leads through the fields of the Papay." She continued on but heard Glitch stop dead in his tracks.

"Papay?" He asked in a terrified voice.

"What?" She asked in frustration. "I've been tossed in to a storm, trussed up by lawn gnomes, chased by mad men on horseback, how bad could Papays be?" She really didn't know how much more she could take today.

"I've seen them knag a person in half inside 30 seconds." Cain said.

'_Oh, he has to be kidding.' _She thought exasperated. She heard Cain sigh in resignation.

"Zipper head, keep your mouth shut, kid stay behind me."

DG walked over to Cain and asked, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Believe me, hearts got nothing to do with it." He replied in a grave voice, and DG felt a foreboding sense of dread for what was yet to come.

**YES! It is finally done! The chapter that I have been putting off since March, mostly because I started another story and couldn't get my mind back in to the "Tin Man" mind set. Anyways I hope you liked it. I know it's long. I'm going to try to cut out as much play-by-play as I can in future chapters, because it's really unnecessary. I'll keep some but not all. Anyways... REVIEW PLEASE! **


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own "Tin Man" (plot or characters), However the OC's are mine. **

**Chapter 4 **

The flames of the small camp fire flickered and danced before DG's eyes. She let out an involuntary shiver and hugged her arms tightly around her body. She glanced around at her companions, recalling the ordeal on the fields of the Papay.

The task had seemed simple enough; get across the field as quickly as possible and run if you could smell the stench of the Papay. DG had spotted a creature trapped in a gooey cocoon like thing. Her heart went out to it and she convinced Cain to free it with his straight razor.

DG wasn't sure if the thing that toppled out of it was a man or a lion. It certainly was one of the oddest things she had seen. However she had a feeling that it wouldn't be the last odd thing she would see in this topsy turvy world. It snarled at her and tried to act tough, but DG could see the fear in its eyes. It wasn't long before the Papays spotted them and they were running for their lives across the field. They came upon a cliff and the Papays were closing in on them. They had no choice but to jump.

Miraculously none of them had been hurt. DG had helped Glitch to build a fire so they could get warm. DG had always found that staring in to fire to be soothing. Something about it made her feel relaxed, although right now all she could think of was how the fire was an accurate metaphor of her life. She was the wood and the fire was the disease which was consuming her. The next shiver she felt had nothing to do with the cold.

"Hey, you want to come closer to the fire? Warm up?" DG called over to the lion man, trying to derail her morbid thoughts.

"Should have left me to die..." The lion man said in a pitifully distressed voice.

"Oh, great. A basket case." Glitch said with a roll of his eyes. DG shot him a glare for being so insensitive.

'_Poor thing must have been terrified in that trap. Just waiting for inevitable death...' _DG thought. She felt a stab of sympathy deep in her chest, as she realized how similar they were right then. She crossed the distance between them and put a comforting hand on his arm. He growled at her and snatched at her hand.

"Stay right there" DG heard Cain say and the click of his loaded gun. DG fought the urge to roll her eyes, as she noticed the pattern that Cain developed. Any sign of disturbance and his gun was pointed at someone.

"It's okay. We're all friends here." She said and raised her free hand to signal Cain to back off. The lion man held her hand more gently and examined it for a moment. He raised his head and his eyes met hers. DG saw all the sorrow of the world in those eyes, and also what she thought might be pity. His gaze made her feel vulnerable and exposed, as though all of her most private secrets and feelings had been uncovered for everyone to see.

"You are sad." He said it as a statement not a question. "Miss your Mother, your Father. And-" He hesitated for a moment. "They miss you" he said. DG couldn't help but feel that he had meant to say something else. She let out a shaky breath.

"My name is DG. What's yours?" She asked kindly. The lion man picked up a stick and wrote RAW in the dirt.

"Raw. Well it's certainly to the point." Glitch said. DG shot him an exasperated look and elbowed him in the ribs.

"Ow! What was that for?" Glitch complained while rubbing his side.

"Think before you speak" DG said, though she really couldn't blame Glitch too much. After all half of his brain was missing. Although his callousness was starting to get on her nerves.

"You're injured" DG exclaimed as she spotted the wound of the back of his head. She extended her hand to his head, but he flinched away from her.

"He's a viewer" Cain said, as though that should make sense to her.

"Viewers are like psychics," Glitch explained after seeing her confused expression. "But instead of seeing with their minds they see with their hearts. Azkadee abducts his kind and gets her alchemists to suck the second sight right from their heads."

Raw looked uncomfortable under all the attention. DG felt horrified that everyone she met in this world was suffering because of Azkadellia. Suddenly her own problems felt incredibly insignificant.

'_It could always be worse.' _She thought to herself. _'At least I have my whole brain, my family is alive, and no one has tried to kidnap me and use me for their personal gain.' _

"He could be a big help" DG felt selfish saying that but it was true. If she was going to find her parents in this crazy world she needed as much help as she could get.

"Look," Cain chimed in while collecting more fire wood, "I don't know where you came from. But if you have any interest in staying alive in The OZ you better get one fact straight real fast. Trust no one."

DG couldn't help but feel that Cain was being a little paranoid. But then again who could blame him? Suddenly Cain let out a cry of pain and crumbled to the ground. DG and Glitch ran over to him and saw a nasty bite in his leg.

"Let's hope those runners don't have fang pox." Glitch said. Raw wandered over to them eyeing Cain's leg calmly.

"Heal wound. Soothe." He said as he placed his hands over Cain's wound, much to Cain's protest. "Brave man. Good man. Tin Man." He said and DG realized that he must have been viewing into Cain's soul, as he had done to her moments before. Raw lifted his hands and DG saw that his injury had disappeared.

'_Yes, he can most defiantly be of help.' _DG thought. _'Perhaps he can heal more than just physical wounds? NO, DG! Don't start this again! Getting your hopes up and being let down again.' _She felt slightly abashed at her thoughts.

"Oh! I Might have known you were a Tin Man! What with that attitude." Glitch's comment brought her back to the present.

"What's a Tin Man?" DG asked.

"It's what they call Police Men in Central City." Glitch explained. "At least I think it is." He added, as he furrowed his brow deep in thought.

"You're a cop?" DG asked Cain in an astonished voice. The contrast between Cain and Officer Gultch was so comical it almost made her laugh. However laughing seemed inappropriate right then so she contained herself.

"Was, until Zero found out I was part of the resistance. You saw the rest" said Cain in bitter tone. He turned to look at Raw. "Thanks" He then got up and brushed himself off. Everyone else took this as their cue to get going. "I picked up your parents trail to the west" said Cain.

They set off down a yellow brick road, Which DG noticed to be in desperate need of repair. They were all silent for a while. DG preferred the silence as this gave her some time to her thoughts; however it wasn't long until Glitch started to babble on about whatever crossed his half of a mind. It was a relief when Glitch asked Cain if they could rest. She quickly second the motion as she felt the damnable fatigue and aching in her bones.

DG could feel the day's exertions catching up to her as she sat down on one of the yellow bricks. Her eyes felt extremely warm and heavy, and her head was a little dizzy.

"Hey, you okay, kid?" Cain asked in a concerned parental way, which caught DG off guard. Then she remembered he had a son once.

"Yeah, just been a long day." She replied masking her fatigue and discomfort under her usual chipper attitude. Cain didn't look completely convinced but dropped the matter.

It was then that DG noticed that Glitch was leaning on a rectangular stone. The stone had a symbol on it and underneath that it read 'Central City 435'. It felt so familiar, and then DG remembered the afternoon she had spent on the swing back home drawing it. Looking back to the yellow brick road DG recalled one of her Dad's old sayings;

"All of life's answers are found along the old road" She said this more to herself than anyone else.

"Did you just say old road?" Cain asked her with suspicion. "That's what the locals call the brick road. I thought you said you've never been here before."

"I haven't been here before" said DG as she heaved herself off the ground. "But I know this place..." She ran down the road, though her legs were screaming in protest, her mind was teeming with questions to ask her parents once she found them. She found herself stumbling down a hill and looking up at a Big Billboard which read 'Everything's better in Milltown'. She recalled once drawing a picture of the scene which was laid out before her now. The billboard, the old fashion houses, general stores. She had given the drawing to her Dad as a joke, because of how he always talked about his Childhood town as if it were a paradise.

"All my dad's stories. My Parents were from here!" DG exclaimed.

'_They definitely have some explaining to do!' _DG thought angrily. _'Honestly, you would think that at some point in the past 20 years they would have mentioned that they aren't from the same world as me. I probably wouldn't have believed them, but that's not the point!' _

DG stomped angrily in to the Town, unaware of the wary look that Cain and Glitch exchanged. She was so frustrated that she didn't pay attention to a word that they were saying.

"DG!" Cain called to her.

"What?" She asked back. Within moments they were surrounded by what DG could only assume were the town's people. Except when DG looked closer she noticed mechanical limbs and weird sounds coming from them.

"Robots?" she asked out loud. "You have got to be kidding me" she murmured under her breathe. As she raised her hands she saw Cain shoot her a 'shut- up- before- you- get- us- into- more-trouble' look.

"Hey, Guys. We were just passing through. We were just passing through. We were just passing through-" Glitch's synapses misfired again and DG heard Cain elbow him in the ribs. Suddenly a robot with only a human head appeared and gave them one sweeping look.

"Stoke the pier!" He called to the other robots. DG associated him with the role of mayor of Crazy Robot Mill Town.

"Pier? Can we talk about this?" Glitch asked nervously.

"Azkadellia's invaders must be made an example of!" The Mayor called to the Town's people.

"What? This is ridiculous!" DG yelled, her infamous temper flaring. "Whatever happened to justice? I don't even know this Azkadellia person!"

"You who spoke, what is your name?" asked the Mayor curiously.

"DG" she answered. Normally DG didn't like to give her name to strangers, however she doubted she had a choice here. Besides, if it helped them avoid getting burned alive, it was well worth it. She thought back to the camp fire metaphor of her life, and realized with a grimace, that it may be coming to reality in a literal sense.

"Your voice patterns are familiar." The robot responded.

"I've never been here before" DG said as her brow furrowed in confusion. All was quiet for a second and then one of the building doors open. To DG's great surprise her parents came running out.

"Hey! Don't let him confuse you baby girl! He's just a crazy old Cyborg." Hank called out to her in his usual cherry tone.

"Dad!" DG exclaimed. Her anger at both of her parents was momentarily forgotten and was replaced with relief that they were safe. "How's your leg?" She asked in concern.

"Everything's okay now that you're here." His sappy reply made her instantly suspicious. It was the kind of answer she associated with the calm before the storm. Her father had pulled this tactic many times in the past, making her feel calm and happy before unloading a huge bomb shell. Such as the time when she was ten and he had complemented her art work excessively before telling her that he accidentally ran over their cat, Charlie.

"I can't believe that this is your home" she admitted. Honestly who could have guessed that her parents were from a bizarre world inhabited by lawn gnomes, skeletal wolves, lion men, and robots?

"Well, not just ours. You know how you said you never fit in on the other side?" her father asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" DG asked the dread in her chest growing.

"Well that voice Father View recalled was your mothers" her mother said.

"It's your voice" DG prompted.

"Not mine. Your real mothers" she said softly. DG's eyes shifted between Hank and Emily. She certainly had been expecting that.

"What?" DG asked in a flat voice. She felt hollow inside. Was there no one she could trust anymore? Finding her parents was what kept her sane this entire trip through The OZ. Where did she go from here? Tears stung her eyes and she felt incredibly small and weak. Emily seemed to sense this and excused them from the robot mayor. They moved to a small clearing outside of the others hearing range. Emily guided DG over to a large rock and sat with her on it.

"So this is what you were keeping from me?" DG asked in a small voice, her head tilted down. It was a vain attempt to hide her teary eyes.

"What do you mean, Sweetheart?" Emily asked as she brushed DG's bangs out of her eyes. DG flinched away from her touch. A traitorous tear rolled down DG's cheek and she brushed it away angrily.

"I mean," DG said with a hint of steel in her voice as she looked up, "that I knew the two of you were hiding something from me. I just never thought that it would be something this big."

Hank and Emily exchanged a weary glance.

"Are you guys also robots?" DG asked in disbelief, praying that at any moment her Dad would let out one of his booming laughs and deny everything. Their silence was conformation enough for DG.

"My life is a lie!" She yelled and paced beside an old looking oak tree.

"It wasn't a lie to us." Emily exclaimed desperate to gain her daughters favour again. "Father View approached us 15 annuals ago with the task to raise you on the other side. We were programmed with protocol to love and protect you as if you were our own flesh and blood."

"Well, Circuits and wires." Hank chimed in trying to lighten the mood. DG couldn't help but smile at that.

'_Same old Popsicle' _she thought to herself as she felt the smile slide off her face.

"But I'm not" DG said sadly as her pacing halted. "You're not my Popsicle anymore," she nodded to Hank. "And you're not my Momsie. Now I have no one".

"That's not true, DG" Emily said as she jumped up to embrace the girl. DG let her and for a moment she just enjoyed the feeling of being held. It was something she had needed for a long time, but the barriers she had put up between her and all the ones she loved prevented such a gesture.

"We feel like your real parents, we love you" Emily said in to DG's ear before pushing her out to hold at arm's length. "Our deeper purpose was to tell you the stories of our world, stories that would prepare you for your return".

"My return?" DG asked. Though it had been hinted at that she was from this world it was a hard reality to accept. "I'm from here?"

"When you started having the dreams we knew it was time to bring you back to The Zone, but the Longcoats came before we had a chance to explain" Hank said in a rush. He knew this must be hard for DG to accept, but they really have time for a better explanation.

"The final task was to bring you to Father View" Emily said also hurriedly. "He can tell you where to find your real mother" she added on. DG cast her eyes down and kicked a stone on the ground.

"Can't I just go home with the two of you to Kansas? Pretend like this never happened?" she asked desperately. Hank lumbered over and slung an arm over her shoulders.

"Sorry, baby girl," He said sincerely. "There is too much at stake for that."

He guided her and Emily back toward the town square where her friends and Father View were waiting. DG couldn't help feeling that he was also guiding her towards a much greater expedition. Her small journey was finished, however a much larger one was forming.

**I'm finally done this chapter! Sorry for taking so long, but what else is new? Your patients is much appreciated. Review please!**


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